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  • P-Rails Polarity Question

    I expecting a set of P-Rails to arrive tomorrow, so I'd like to be sure how to install and wire them....

    From what I understand, in a set of humbuckers, the neck and Bridge pickups as a whole are wired in reverse polarity relative to each other, while the coils in each pickup are also wired in reverse polarity to each other. The result is that if the coils are split and both pickups are on, the two coils in each pickup that are closest to the neck will be out of phase with each other, and the two coils closest to the bridge will be out of phase with each other.

    The wiring diagrams on the Seymour Duncan web site show P-Rails pickup being mounted in opposite directions. Are the P-Rails Neck and Bridge pickup wired in the same polarity so that they have to be mounted in reverse in order for the corresponding coils to be out of phase with each other?

    I'd like to get the sound of a Strat with the neck and middle pickups out of phase, so I'd like to mount the P-Rails with both rail pickups towards the neck. Will I have to reverse the wiring connections in one of the P-Rails to keep the rails out of phase?

    Thanks!

  • #2
    Re: P-Rails Polarity Question

    No, humbuckers are both in phase with each other. The two coils in a humbucker are electrically out of phase and have reverse magnetic polarity.

    Single coils are often wound in reverse with opposite magnetic polarity to act as a humbucker, since that’s all a humbucker is.

    The output of a humbucker is a composite of the two coils.

    When splitting humbuckers and wanting them to hum cancel, you have use the two opposite magnetic polarity coils from each one.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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    • #3
      Re: P-Rails Polarity Question

      You can flip the pickup any way you want- it won't change the phase (or how you wire it). I actually haven't met many people that like the neck & middle out of phase on a Strat. That, I think, would be really thin and strange. But hey, I dig it that you are going for your own thing.
      Administrator of the SDUGF

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      • #4
        Re: P-Rails Polarity Question

        I think that I've been using the term 'Out-of-phase' wrong. I've always thought that standard Strat wiring was with the middile pick-up 'out-of-phase' with th eneck and bridge. Apparemtly that's the wrong term.

        After reading up I've found that the middle pickup is in phase, but its magnetic polarity and windings are opposite.

        That's the sound I'd like to have in my P-Rails rail pickups, with both rails towards the neck - like the neck & middle pickups on a Strat.

        Can P-Rails be wired that way or should I stick with the rails point toward each other?

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        • #5
          Re: P-Rails Polarity Question

          this blog will explain it best, by page 3 of it you'll have a ton of ways to wire them too. These wirings work on other Seymour Duncan or other branded pickups as well with a bit of creativity
          Follow this P-Rails wiring guide for an introduction to the functionality of the P-Rails pickups. Design and implement a wiring scheme that works for you.

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          • #6
            Re: P-Rails Polarity Question

            Originally posted by shadowfire90 View Post
            this blog will explain it best, by page 3 of it you'll have a ton of ways to wire them too. These wirings work on other Seymour Duncan or other branded pickups as well with a bit of creativity
            https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/t...g-bible-part-1

            Thanks! That helps alot!

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            • #7
              Re: P-Rails Polarity Question

              Originally posted by HaganR View Post
              I think that I've been using the term 'Out-of-phase' wrong. I've always thought that standard Strat wiring was with the middile pick-up 'out-of-phase' with th eneck and bridge. Apparemtly that's the wrong term.

              After reading up I've found that the middle pickup is in phase, but its magnetic polarity and windings are opposite.

              That's the sound I'd like to have in my P-Rails rail pickups, with both rails towards the neck - like the neck & middle pickups on a Strat.

              Can P-Rails be wired that way or should I stick with the rails point toward each other?
              To reiterate, the orientation of the pickups means nothing. You can have either one facing either direction and the noise cancelling and phase will be the same.

              Since the neck and bridge P-Rails are Reverse Wound Reverse Polarity with each other, the following combos are noise cancelling:

              Bridge in series
              Bridge in parallel
              Neck in series
              Neck in series
              Bridge and Neck split to P90s and combined
              Bridge and Neck split to Rails and combined

              The link above will show options, but they are not affected by which way either P-Rail is facing in the guitar.
              Oh no.....


              Oh Yeah!

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              • #8
                Re: P-Rails Polarity Question

                Originally posted by HaganR View Post
                I think that I've been using the term 'Out-of-phase' wrong. I've always thought that standard Strat wiring was with the middile pick-up 'out-of-phase' with th eneck and bridge. Apparemtly that's the wrong term.

                After reading up I've found that the middle pickup is in phase, but its magnetic polarity and windings are opposite.

                That's the sound I'd like to have in my P-Rails rail pickups, with both rails towards the neck - like the neck & middle pickups on a Strat.

                Can P-Rails be wired that way or should I stick with the rails point toward each other?
                Standard Strat pickups are in phase in every configuration. But many called the 2 & 4 positions 'out of phase' as a description of the sound. I get it, but it is just scientifically wrong. You do hear some cancellation of frequencies in those positions, though...just not to the extent that you would if they were actually out of phase.
                Administrator of the SDUGF

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                • #9
                  Re: P-Rails Polarity Question

                  Originally posted by PFDarkside View Post
                  Since the neck and bridge P-Rails are Reverse Wound Reverse Polarity with each other...
                  This is the key. First of all most Duncan humbuckers are not RW/RP between a neck and bridge set. Some OEM’s order their sets that way if they have split coil switching and want the inside or outside coils to cancel with one another.

                  But that was the key to the design. Since the most powerful option of the P-Rails was to be a Humbucker that split to a P90, I had to treat the wire color codes differently from a manufacturing perspective. The customer doesn’t see the difference, but it meant that internally it’s a little different from the rest of the Duncan line up. This was so that if you directly swapped P-Rails for any other Duncan coil split wiring diagram, you got the P90 instead of getting the Rail. Then of course you split the “other way” for the Rails.

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